Machine for turning leaves of music



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

M. M. BOOTHMAN & G. W. BUSHONG.

MACHINE FOR TURNING LEAVES OF MUSIC.

No. 559,355. Patented May 5, 1896.

Wm B w 6 WWW m w y 3] and (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

M. M. BOOTHMAN & G. w. BU-SHONG. MACHINE FOR TURNING LEAVES OF MUSIC.

No. 559,355. Patented May 5, 1896.-

ANDREW B GRAHAM.PHOTO-UTHQWASHINFTDNDQ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELVIN M. BOOTHMAN AND GEORGE V. BUSHONG, OF BRYAN, OHIO.

MACHINE FOR TURNING LEAVES OF MUSIC.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,355, dated May 5, 1896.

Application filed March 28, 1894. Serial No. 505,509. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, MELVIN M. BOOTH- MAN and GEORGE W. BUSHONG, residing at Bryan, in the county of \Villiams and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful machine for turning the leaves of written or printed music while in use and for holding the same in position when turned, and which we have named The Rotary Music-Lift, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to music-leaf turners, and has for its object to provide a simple and efficient construction and arrangement of parts adapted for use in connection with a music-rack of a piano or organ or in connection with an orchestral music-stand, whereby the leaves of a book or of sheet-music may be turned either forward or backward to provide for advancing or repeating without loss of time to the performer, and whereby the operating devices for the turning-arms form indicators to guide the operator in turning the leaves.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section showing the operating mechanism in plan. Fig. at is a detail view of one of the turning-arms and the pinion by which it is carried. Fig. 5 is a similar view of an attachment applied to the extremity of an arm and adapted for turning aloose leaf of sheet-music. Fig. 6 is a detail view of one of the clasps. Fig. 7 is a detail view of a portion of the holdrod and the means for mounting the same.

Similar numerals of reference indicate cor responding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a frame, near the lower edge of which is arranged a rest 2 to support a book or sheet, and arranged to operate below the plane of said rest are turning-arms 3, having clasps 4 for engaging the lower edges of theleaves. in place upon the frame, we employ a vertical holding-arm 5, attached at its lower end In order to hold the book or sheet to a springactuated followerblock 6, said block being mounted in an opening in the rest and having actuating-springs to press the same toward the plane of the frame.

Mounted in a casing 7 in rear of the frame upon a common vertical spindle S is a series of coaxial pinions 9, which respectively carry the turning arms by means of upright extensions 10 at the inner ends of said arms. Meshing respectively with said pinions and fitted in guides 11 in the rear side of the easing are racks 12, arranged at the centers of operating-rods,the portions 13 and 14 of which project, respectively, through opposite ends of the frame and are fitted with heads or knobs forming push-buttons for pressure by the fingers of the performer. It is obvious that by pressing the button at one end of an operating-rod the turning-arm connected therewith will be turned in one direction and bypressing the duplicate push-button at the other end of the same rod the arm will be turned in the opposite direction. By providin g du plicate sets of push-buttons operatively connected with each turning-arm to communicate motion in opposite direction thereto the performer is enabled to turn apage or a number of pages either forward or backward, as may be desired. The operator is enabled to turn more than one page, for the reason that the extensions 10 of the turning-arms open. ate in a common path contiguous to the peripheries of the pinions and therefore the motion imparted to the pinion carrying one of the arms will be communicated to the arm or arms in advance of the arm receiving the motion.

The push-buttons which are located at the extremities of the frame are mounted to move toward and from said ends in the plane of the frame, and hence across the line of vision of the performer, whereby the relative positions of the push-buttons indicate the number of pages which have been turned and the next button to operate in order to turn the next page. Thus by referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that of the six buttons shown'at the left of the frame the first three have been pushed to the right or toward the end of the frame, and thus have turned the three pages which are arranged for operation thereby. Hence in order to turn the next ICO page in succession the uppermost of the three extended buttons must be pushed toward the end of the frame or toward the right. Thus the push-buttons form a permanent indicator of the number of pages which have been turned and the next one to be turned. In the same way, inasmuch as the buttons at the opposite end of the frame, which are invisible in Fig. 1, but are shown in Fig. 3, are extended as those at the first-named end of the frame are pushed in, the extended buttons indicate the number of pages which have been turned, and hence the number of pages which must be turned back, if it is desired to return to the beginning of the composition. If it is desired to turn back one page, the lowermost extended push-button is pressed toward the contiguous end of the rack or toward the left, and if two pages are to be turned back the lowermost two buttons or the second button from the bottom of the series of extended buttons should be operated.

Inasmuch as the push-buttons operate in a plane transverse to the line of vision of the performer their relative posit-ions are dis closed at a glance, and hence mistake upon the part of the performer in pushing the wrong button is avoided, and there is no necessity to depend upon the memory in order to avoid such mistake.

\Vhen it is desired to turn sheet-music or a manuscript and the leaves thereof are loose or separate, we have found it desirable to employ an auxiliary arm 15, provided with a slide 16 to fit upon the extremity of the turning-arm, and also carrying a clasp 17 to engage the outer edge of a leaf near the top thereof, as shown in Fig. 5.

The clasps which we prefer to use in con neotion with the turning-arms consist of sheetmetal strips folded at their centers and riveted, as at 18, to form slides 19, the free ends of said strips forming jaws which are slightly flared at their extremities to facilitate the insertion of the edge of a leaf. The slides are fitted upon the turning-arms, the latter being preferably fiat or angular in cross-section, and they may be arranged at any desired points upon the arms to suit the width of the pages of the book or sheet in use.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim is- In a music-leaf turner, the combination with a frame, and turning-arms arranged to operate in a common plane and having coaxially-mounted pinions, of horizontal operating-rods of greater length than the frame and provided at both ends with push-b uttons, said rods being arranged in a common vertical plane and having intermediate racks meshing, respectively, with said pinions, the series of push-buttons at each end of the frame forming an indicator to show the relative positions of the turning-arms and the proper button to be operated to turn a page either forward or backward, substantially as specified.

MELVIN M. BOOTHMAN. GEORGE XV. BUSI'IONG.

\Vitnesses:

ISAAC M. ATTAFFER, S. L. ATTAFFER. 

